Maiasaura

Say it like this: “MAY-ya-SAWR-a”

Maiasaura peeblesorum

Maiasaura ate plants and walked on two or four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.

Quiz me on Maiasaura

When: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Named in: 1979 · Horner, J. R.; Makela, R.
Hip height: 2.2 m · 7 ft
Length: 9 m · 30 ft
Weight: 4 tonnes
Found in: the United States · Two Medicine
Food and walking: Herbivore · Two or four legs
Kind: beaked plant-eater · Ornithopod
Family branch: Saurolophinae

The story in short

In 1979, J. R. Horner and R. Makela published the name Maiasaura. The name means “good mother lizard.”

Fossils referred to Maiasaura date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Two Medicine Formation. It was a herbivore and could move on two or four legs.

Published estimates put Maiasaura at a length near 9 m, hips about 2.2 m high, and a body mass around 4 tonnes.

On the family tree it sits in Saurolophinae, among the ornithopod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Acristavus

Acristavus gagslarsoni

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Ahshislesaurus

Ahshislesaurus wimani

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Anasazisaurus

Anasazisaurus horneri

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago